On day 22 of “The Ultimate USA Road Trip” we drive over 450 kilometers from Dodge City Kansas to Amarillo in Texas. We are driving over wide plains with only a few small villages and towns to stop at, so it is advisable to bring some drinks and food along the way and also buy a spray can of your favorite color of paint, you will need it later today.

The roads are straight and the panoramas a bit dull, but there are also some nice stops, such as the Dalton Gang Hideout and Museum. This museum is a tourist attraction in Meade, Kansas. The complex includes a residence, a museum on the top floor of a barn, and contributing objects.

Originally owned by sister Eva Whipple and brother-in-law to the outlaw brothers Dalton Gang, consisting of Grat Dalton, Bob Dalton and Emmett Dalton. The Dalton Gang were a notorious group of bandits from 1890-1892 who robbed banks and trains and it is said that the Dalton Gang took refuge in their sister's house.
The restoration of the property was done in 1941 by the Works Progress Administration and the National Youth Administration. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 2015.
Many people suspected Eva Whipple of hiding her brothers, but it wasn't until after she disappeared and new residents moved into Whipple's house that a hidden tunnel was found between the house and the less visible stable.

The Dalton Gang Hideout was developed as a tourist attraction in 1940 when the escape tunnel was rebuilt in a WPA project. The unpaved tunnel was replaced by a stone passage that can be easily walked through.
Today, the Dalton Gang Hideout has a gift shop and modest museum in the barn. The museum has a wide variety of items, including their rarest item, the preserved body of a two-headed calf.
From the barn, visitors walk through the stone tunnel to the house, which is furnished with period furniture and features several newspaper articles and photographs of the history of the Dalton Gang Hideout.

After lunch in Perryton, where you can choose from several restaurants, we drive to Spearman where you can visit the Stationsmasters House Museum. The museum is housed in the former cottage built for the station master and his family. Also on the property is the Spearman Santa Fe Depot, a windmill, locomotive, and a replica of the first building built by settlers north of the Canadian River.

Via Lake Meredith we drive towards Amarillo, we stop briefly for a photo at the first tree ever planted on the Texas High Plains, placed in front of the house of the dugout by Thomas Cree, in 1888. Cree's bois d'arc tree died off in the 1970s. County residents planted a new tree here in 1990 as a memorial to the area's early pioneers.

The last stop is planted at the VW Slug Bug Ranch, it is a similar piece of art to the Cadillac Ranch, on the other side of Amarillo, but with VW Beetles instead of Cadillacs. We will visit the Cadillac Ranch tomorrow.
The five Volkswagen Beetles are buried nose down in the ground. As with the Cadillac Ranch, visitors are encouraged to personalize the aerosol cars, so grab your spray can and leave a fun text or drawing on the Beetles. Via part of the old Route 66 we drive to Amarillo where we spend the night in one of the hotels.

In Amarillo you can also visit the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame Museum. It showcases the colorful history and modern day activities of the world's most popular breed of horse and the people who played an important role in its history. Changing, unique exhibits are on display throughout the year. Don't miss the gift shop in the Hall of Fame & Museum for all kinds of items for the horse lover. They even have a western art gallery.

For dinner we go to the world famous Big Texan Steak Ranch and Brewery steakhouse. Eat the famous 72 oz (2 kilograms) of the Big Texan. This is a steak dinner with all the trimmings, 3 fried shrimp, salad, baked potato and a sandwich), eat it all in one hour and it's FREE!
Nearly 140,000 people have tried it and more than 9,000 have succeeded. The menu is full of other flavorful dishes, from premium Texas beef to buffalo burgers, French fries, and popular hand-breaded chicken steak.
The Big Texan Brewery is a Texas Panhandle brewery; with over 12 different selections of beer that change seasonally.
The adjacent 54-room hotel looks like an old Western town, but has the comforts and conveniences of today. So definitely also an option to stay overnight.

Amarillo is located halfway along historic US Route 66. You can experience what traveling this area could be like in the mid-century by driving in the city's historic Route 66 district.